Western Biofuels introduces new process

Biodiesel Magazine
By Susanne Retka Schill
Posted, June 3, 2009

Western Biofuels Inc. released the results of an independent validation test and announced plans to build a 1.4 MMgy demonstration plant for a new biofuel process. Fuel chemist Nicholas Irving, president and founder of Western Biofuels, described the process as combining a chemical reaction using nitrogen compounds and distillation to create a unique biofuel from fats and oils that is not a methyl ester. He’s calling it a High Energy BioFuel (HEBF) because it combines the energy advantage of petro-diesel with the benefits of biofuels.

“HEBF has no restriction as to feedstock, it can be tallow, palm, olive oil or 100 percent FFAs [free fatty acids],” Irving said. “We can even use crude vegetable oils, the water isn’t a problem.” The distillation is done at atmospheric pressure, Irving added, although the HEBF process does require the proper equipment and can’t be done even on a bench scale with glassware.

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Poet looks at bankrupt ethanol plants

Reuters
Tue Jun 2, 2009 7:16pm

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Poet, the largest U.S. producer of ethanol, is interested in buying new distilleries including ones from recently bankrupt companies, and has "multiple trade secrets" that could help make them profitable, the company's chief executive said.

"We're looking at all of the opportunities out there that reasonably fit within our model," Jeff Broin, the chief executive of privately held Poet, told the Reuters Global Energy Summit by telephone.

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Biomass generates most jobs in renewable energy sector

Biomass Magazine June 2009
By Anna Austin
Posted June 3, 2009, at 1:17 p.m. CST

Biomass, wind and hydro are the most important technologies to generate jobs under the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, according to a study recently conducted on behalf of the European Commission’s Directorate-General Energy and Transport.

At the end of 2008, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union agreed on the RED, which commits EU member states to achieve a 20 percent share of renewable energy in the country’s energy consumption by 2020, and to cut carbon emissions 20 percent by 2020.

Several different economic models were used for study assessments, including input-output model MULTIREG, which was used to observe the effect of developments in the renewable energy sources (RES) sector on other economic sectors.

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President Clinton Calls for Rainforest Protection at Ethanol Summit

Reuters
Wed Jun 3, 2009 2:46pm EDT
By Gas 2.0 - Gas 2.0
By Joanna Schroeder

This week Sao Paulo, Brazil is hosting one of the world's largest gatherings of the international biofuels industry.

The Ethanol Summit 2009 was kicked off in part by President Bill Clinton who noted that Brazil is known for producing the most energy efficient and cost competitive ethanol in the world using sugarcane. The downside, though, says Clinton, is that the country's increase in ethanol production is a precursor to the continued destruction of the rainforests.

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Pelosi, US House farm chief discuss climate bill

Reuters India
Wed Jun 3, 2009 3:00am IST

WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - Speaker Nancy Pelosi met the House Agriculture Committee chairman on Tuesday to discuss the climate change bill that he opposes but which is a priority for House Democrats this year.

The Agriculture Committee is among eight committees with the right to review the climate bill. The bill would cut industrial emissions of greenhouse gases by 17 percent by 2020.

During a news conference, Pelosi said she met Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson and Charles Rangel, chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, on the climate bill. She said she was optimistic of action on the bill in coming weeks.

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Lawmakers seek broader U.S. biomass-for-biofuel list

Reuters
Wed Jun 3, 2009 6:37 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Farm-state lawmakers on Wednesday asked the Obama administration to back a broader definition of biomass for use in renewable fuels, an issue entangled with congressional action on climate change.

Some lawmakers from rural districts say they will not support the climate bill without a more favorable treatment of biofuels, such as an expansive definition of biomass. The climate bill is a top priority for House Democratic leaders.

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Grass could be fuel of the future

WalesOnline.co.uk
May 28 2009 by James McCarthy, Western Mail

SCIENTISTS in Wales are working on a ground-breaking £1m scheme to turn grass into fuel.
The Assembly Government- backed “grassohol” project aims to develop a commercially viable way to make ethanol which is used as an alternative to petrol.

The project, which has been funded by the UK government, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, is led by the Institute of Biological Environmental and Rural Sciences at Aberystwyth University.

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Reuters Summit-Higher ethanol blends would be good for US -Chu

Guardian.co.uk
Reuters, Monday June 1 2009
(For other news from the Reuters Global Energy Summit)
By Timothy Gardner

NEW YORK, June 1 (Reuters) - Mixing slightly higher levels of ethanol into gasoline would benefit the U.S. energy supply provided the higher blends do not hurt car engines, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said.

"We are looking at whether when you go up to 12 and 13 percent (of ethanol in gasoline) whether the current fleet of automobiles would be fine in terms of the gaskets and seals and things of that nature," said Chu speaking at the Reuters Global Energy Summit in Washington. "If it turns out the existing automobile fleet ... could accept that, it would be good if we can go up to 12 or 13 percent."

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Bioenergy Makes Heavy Demands On Scarce Water Supplies

ScienceDaily.com

ScienceDaily (June 4, 2009) — The ‘water footprint’ of bioenergy, i.e. the amount of water required to cultivate crops for biomass, is much greater than for other forms of energy. The generation of bioelectricity is significantly more water-efficient in the end, however – by a factor of two – than the production of biofuel. By establishing the water footprint for thirteen crops, researchers at the University of Twente were able to make an informed choice of a specific crop and production region. They published their results in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of 2 June.

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Ethanol to take over 75 pct Brazil car fuel market

Reuters
Wed Jun 3, 2009 12:01pm
By Roberto Samora

SAO PAULO, June 3 (Reuters) - Sugar cane-based ethanol fuel is expected to take over 75 percent of Brazil's light vehicle fuel market, shrinking gasoline's stake to 17 percent by 2020, the head of the state-run oil company said.

The flex-fuel engine technology, which is now included in about 90 percent of all new car sales, is the reason that Brazilians are buying more ethanol fuel, said Jose Sergio Gabrielli, chief executive of Petrobras(PETR4.SA) (PBR.N), Brazil's state-run oil company.

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